Whoever keeps the records of these things, let the record state that when I started the very first episode of ‘The Obelisk Show’ on Gimme Radio, it was with this track. The opener from Brant Bjork‘s new album, Mankind Woman (review here), which was also premiered here over the summer, is a clarion to anyone who’d be so bold as to let a little funk into their heart, and frankly, we should all be so lucky to do precisely that. And of course the video keeps it loose, opening up with Bjork turning on the camera and sitting down next to his record player to check out the test pressing of Mankind Woman, only to pick up his guitar and play along to the song before he, as a full band on drums, bass and guitar, jams out the track in its entirety.

That’s a blast in itself, and of course it ends with him lighting up a joint and shutting off said camera after the song has ended, but there’s more going on in the video than just that. It’s loaded with easter eggs and references. To wit, in the opening shot, when Bjork is sitting in his badass retro living room — look at that lamp! — there are two piles of records in front of the cabinet, and facing out from them are the covers for Bob Dylan‘s 1965 album Bringing it all Back Home, on which the then-folk hero went electric, and the 1970 self-titled debut from Funkadelic, which aside from being one of the best albums ever released by anybody — period — relates to the song via the use of “chocolate,” as that same unit, as Parliament, would soon enough issue 1975’s Chocolate City. Bjork might as well be recommending these to viewers, and with Hendrix showing up later on as well, one could hardly argue with his picks.

Note as well the Star Wars action figures in a display case, and the television in the living room where he’s playing bass that has the early Star Trek episode “Shore Leave” on wherein the crew of the Enterprise trips out on some planet’s atmosphere and all conjure various oddities in their mind, for Captain Kirk a certain Cadet Finnegan who used to beat him up at Starfleet Academy. It’s not there for long, but trust me, that’s the episode. Those are both cool inclusions, but perhaps the best of all is the Dylan reference, which continues into the video itself as the song makes its way to the chorus, the trippy visuals of the verse cut out and we see Bjork standing outside switching hats with words from the lyrics on them: “chocolatize,” “right on,” etc. This of course is a nod to Dylan‘s iconic promo video for “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” much referenced for his holding up signs with the words to the song on them. It’s a smart twist and fits the vibe of the track well. He ends with “love” and “dig.,” respectively. Badass.

One might also spot an open gatefold Black Sabbath LP on a shelf and I’m sure there are numerous others to be found. Either way, this is one of the best songs I’ve heard this year — it’s on that list, to be sure — and the more opportunities to dig into it, the better.

So here’s one. Enjoy:

Brant Bjork, “Chocolatize” official video

After the successful release of his critically acclaimed, thirteenth solo album “Mankind Woman”, BRANT BJORK is now premiering a brand new music video for the track “Chocolatize”. Welcome to Brant’s living room, dive with him into the desert and the psychedelic grooves of his brand new album, your trip starts below!

With an unprecedented sense of groove – the one and only Brant Bjork Groove – “Mankind Woman” is BRANT BJORK’s first ever release on European independent powerhouse Heavy Psych Sounds Records. Already described as his catchiest to date, this 11-track gem presents the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist’s take on 60s and 70s music era. Joined by long-time friend and Low Desert Punk musician Bubba Dupree, Brant Bjork blends the finest of his classic rock, rhythm’n’blues and funk influences to craft a groovy, hook-laden record that adds to a prolific and always heat-warming collection of records from the legendary desert rocker.

Once again, Brant Bjork makes here a record that reminds the listener that it was the ingredients of jazz, blues and funk that makes rock music taste so good.

Strip it down. The central mission of Brant Bjork‘s 12th studio album seems to have been to get back to basics, and that means groove. There’s ultra-funk that runs deep throughout Mankind Woman, and in songs like “Chocolatize” and “Somebody,” the godfather of desert rock crafts his most intimate-sounding release in at least a decade, if not longer. It’s a collection informed by the soulful aspects of records like 1999’s mellow-heavy desert classic Jalamanta (discussed here; also here) and particularly 2002’s Brant Bjork and the Operators, which was made under similar circumstances of close collaboration.

In this case, Bjork worked together with guitarist Bubba DuPree (ex-Void, also of Bjork‘s backing group, The Low Desert Punk Band) to write the material and bringing in recurring guest vocalist Sean Wheeler to take lead vocal spots on side B cuts “Pretty Hairy” and closer “Nation of Indica,” former Kyuss/Vista Chino bandmate Nick Oliveri and Armand Secco Sabal (who’s toured with Al di Meola) for bass spots. The result is an 11-track/38-minute easy-flowing LP that discards much of the aggressive edge of 2014’s Black Power Flower (review here) and 2016’s Tao of the Devil (review here) — Bjork‘s two studio full-lengths through Napalm Records, which also issued the live outing, Europe ’16 (review here), last year — in favor of material that is smoother and more laid back.

Sure, the title-track sleeks its way into a Deep Purple (sans organ) boogie in its second half and the fittingly-enough centerpiece “Swagger and Sway” has some element of challenge in the lyrics, “Try to do something about it/I dare you,” but the prevailing vibe on Mankind Woman is more indebted to classic soul and R&B, melded of course with the signature desert rock style that Bjork has made his own over the better part of the last 20 years. Cuts like the shuffling “Lazy Wizards” and “Pisces” early in the tracklisting are straightforward in their style — the latter with a particularly resonant hook — and follow the opener “Chocolatize” (premiered here) in finding a place where something can be heavy and soothing at the same time, empty of pretense but more than a simple run through the motions of Bjork‘s modus.

As Bjork leaves Napalm behind for Italian imprint Heavy Psych Sounds, it’s easy to read Mankind Woman as the beginning of a new era for his work, and if that’s the case, then so be it. Even Wheeler brings the soul to “Pretty Hairy,” as opposed to the sort of punker spoken declarations of “Nation of Indica” and while funk is ever-present in Bjork‘s style, to hear him directly engage it as he does on “Chocolatize,” “Mankind Woman” itself and “Somebody” is a refreshing readjustment of the balance. It’s the ultimate cliché to say an opener ‘sets the tone’ for the rest of the album, but the chorus, “It’s time to chocolatize our thing/Right on,” seems to be as much a statement of purpose for the collection as a whole as it is a standout hook on its own, and Mankind Woman indeed remains affected by its energy and deceptively complex arrangement of layers.

B-funk? D-funk (for desert)? Either way, as “Lazy Wizards” subsequently unfolds its righteously subdued groove, the impression of “Chocolatize” before it holds firm and makes an underpinning for just about everything that follows, even as “Charlie Gin” dips into garage rock, the later “Brand New Old Times” seems to take on no-frills early-Beatles-gone-fuzz-R&B hookmaking, and the penultimate “1968” unfurls itself with an uptempo swing that would’ve been at home on a second Vista Chino effort, with Bjork himself donning the John Garcia mantle in his vocal approach.

Mankind Woman brings no shortage of sonic variety in moving from track to track, but it’s the overarching fluidity that makes it work so well as a front-to-back listen, the steady flow of the production (helmed by Dupree as well as Yosef Sanborn, who engineered and mixed) helping to unite individualized pieces across the whole work in classic-album form. Not that a record with a song called “1968” on it is exactly missing ties to that era that saw the birth of heavy in rock and roll, but clearly Mankind Woman is speaking to that moment in more than just that one especially upfront manner.

And no complaints for that. With the exception of “Brand New Old Times” — which is the shortest cut included at 2:04 — the songs are by and large longer on side B, with “Somebody” and “Nation of Indica” tapping into the kind of jammy feel that populated some of the longer-form material on other recent long-players, but is quicker in doing so, speaking to the general reining in that seems to be happening throughout Mankind Woman as Bjork effectively resets his methodology. Likely some of it is writing alongside DuPree, but even if Bjork‘s doing so is a one-off rather than indicative of a new direction to be developed over future works, then the point still stands.

Clearly it was time for something different coming off Tao of the Devil, and that’s manifest in these tracks whatever familiar elements they might otherwise contain. For longtime Brant Bjork fans, Mankind Woman should feel like a gift. It taps into a spirit that fell by the wayside as Bjork embraced wider-scale touring — that said, he’s hitting Europe again to support this release — and a more full-band approach, and it does so without moving backwards creatively. It refuses to compromise its soul or dull-down its funkified roll, and it shows Bjork squarely in command of his style, songwriting and performance. Actually, I take that back. There’s nothing square about it.

Brant Bjork‘s legacy doesn’t — or shouldn’t — need to be recounted. From his days drumming and writing in Kyuss to joining Fu Manchu, to the one-off with Ché en route to establishing himself as a solo artist and releasing albums of diverse sound and consistent quality, he’s been nothing short of essential to the process of shaping desert rock into the multinational phenomenon it is today. Mankind Woman is true to this pedigree, but like each of Bjork‘s offerings, it has a personality unto itself and speaks to the ongoing creative growth of an absolute master of the form. Hearing it is only going to make your day better.

One of desert rock’s principal architects, Brant Bjork will release his new album, Mankind Woman, on Sept. 14 through Heavy Psych Sounds and I couldn’t possibly be more thrilled to host the premiere of the first audio from the record. Preorders go up in about two hours’ time through the labels website. “Chocolatize” is the opening track of the 11-song outing, which could easily be considered the beginning of a new era for Bjork, who’s spent the last five-plus years signed to Napalm Records, resulting in two studio LPs in 2014’s Black Power Flower (review here) and 2016’s Tao of the Devil (review here) as well as the 2017 live outing Europe ’16 (review here). In addition to the forthcoming Mankind Woman, his new label home has hopped on board for reissues of his entire catalog from his 1999 solo debut Jalamanta (discussed here; also here) to 2010’s Gods and Goddesses (review here), bringing new artwork and new vinyl to albums that have long gone underrated as Bjork has, along with his Low Desert Punk Band, jammed his way into hearts and minds throughout the US, Europe and elsewhere, earning consideration as one of the Californian desert’s chief practitioners of groove. I’ve called him the Godfather of Desert Rock more times than I can count, but I’ve yet to come up with anything more fitting for the position he holds in the genre.

Because it’s not just about riffs with Brant Bjork, and I think you can hear this in “Chocolatize.” Since the days of Jalamanta — now nearly 20 years ago; wow — he’s been more about the vibe. He’s got elements of punk and psychedelia and classic heavy rock, to be sure, but all of this is in conversation with influences from funk and soul, drawing from an entirely different kind of heavy ’70s. He’s toyed with this side of his sound to varying degrees throughout his career, but even his most subdued outings — 2007’s mostly acoustic Tres Dias, for example, which will begin Heavy Psych Sounds‘ reissue series — carried that foundation in soul. His signature riffing style, his smooth vocals, the sleek and swinging rhythms he brought to drumming in Kyuss and Fu Manchu: all of it comes together to create something that is Brant Bjork‘s own and largely inimitable, however broad his influence may have an in fact has become over the last two decades. One looks forward all the more to Mankind Woman with “Chocolatize” as a quick preview of what might be in store in terms of a natural production and a more intimate mood than some of what the last couple records have had on offer.

I won’t delay further, except to say that I’m looking forward to putting up a full review of the album closer to the release in September. Brant Bjork has European tour dates scheduled to begin in November that include a stop at the Heavy Psych Sounds Fest, which is being held this year in Austria. You can find all of those below, as well as some more particulars about Mankind Woman, which, again, is due Sept. 14.

Please enjoy. Then put it on repeat and enjoy again.

And again:

Focusing on personal sensitivities, elite hypocrisies, racism, sexism and the daily struggle to find peace, love and understanding in today’s American society. Once again, BRANT BJORK created a record that reminds the listener that it is the ingredients of the jazz, blues and funk, that makes rock music taste so good. A must-have for all collectors, genre-fans and beyond!

Well, it’s been several minutes — upwards of eight! — since the last time I posted an update about the many doings of desert rock legend Brant Bjork, so it seems only fair that news should come down the PR wire heralding word that, one week after the release of his new album, Mankind Woman (info here), he’ll be reissuing 2007’s Tres Dias through Heavy Psych Sounds as the beginning point of a series that will see his entire catalog from 1999 through 2010 — that’s Jalamanta (discussed here) through Gods and Goddesses (review here), by my count — to the general benefit of humanity at large. Interesting that the series would start with Tres Dias, which is the largely-unplugged predecessor to 2007’s Somera Sól (discussed here), since it is arguably Brant ‘s most minimal and intimate record, but I guess it’s more fascinating than either starting at the beginning and working up or starting with the newest one and going back. Mix and match. Should be fun.

And of course, Bjork will head over to Europe for a sizable tour this Fall, the dates for which you can also see below, along with the revamped Tres Dias cover art.

Dig:

BRANT BJORK to reissue “Tres Dias” album on September 21st through Heavy Psych Sounds Records

Heavy Psych Sounds Records is proud to start the reissuing of BRANT BJORK’s solo back catalogue from 1999 to 2010! First reissue is “Tres Dias”, coming along a brand new artwork and special and limited vinyl editions.

“Tres Dias” is the fifth solo album released by the godfather of desert rock BRANT BJORK. The album was recorded in Joshua Tree, California, before Christmas 2006. This 8-track album is a mix of old and new tracks.

BRANT BJORK has spent over a quarter-century at the epicenter of Californian desert rock. From cutting his teeth alongside Fatso Jetson’s Mario Lalli in hardcore punkers De-Con to drumming and composing on Kyuss’ landmark early albums, to propelling the seminal fuzz of Fu Manchu from 1994-2001 while producing other bands, putting together offshoot projects like Ché, embarking on his solo career as a singer, guitarist and bandleader, founding his own record label and more, his history is a winding narrative of relentless, unflinching creativity.

For someone so outwardly laid back, he’s never really taken a break. And while BRANT BJORK has shown different sides of himself on an album like his 2007’s mostly-acoustic Tres Dias, when you’re listening to Brant Bjork, you know it, because there’s no one else who sounds quite like him. He comments: “Been a long time since i celebrated these recordings. Couldnt think of a better time to re-release. Fresh art to represent “brand new old times”. Enjoy!”

“Tres Dias” was produced, recorded, and mixed by Tony Mason at Back of the Moon Studios, Joshua Tree, CA in 2007. The original artwork has been designed by Bunker/Bjork, the re-issued artwork comes by Marcello “Rise Above” Crescenzi.

Desert rock legend Brant Bjork has announce his new album, Mankind Woman, will be released Sept. 14 through Heavy Psych Sounds, with preorders starting July 3. European tour dates are set to kick off in November. You don’t need me to tell you both of these make for awesome news. Brant Bjork has been on fire the last several years as he launched the Low Desert Punk Band, hit the road and put out three offerings through Napalm Records in the form of last year’s live album, Europe ’16 (review here), and the two studio records, 2014’s Black Power Flower (review here) and 2016’s Tao of the Devil (review here), and even with the label switch it doesn’t seem like he’s missing a beat in terms of getting new material out and going back on tour. As if Brant Bjork could miss a fucking beat.

This one just came in on the PR wire and I posted it all “OMG gotta get this up right away” style. Because it’s Brant Bjork and some things take priority:

BRANT BJORK unveil new album details & European tour dates ; “Mankind Woman” due out September 14th on Heavy Psych Sounds

Kyuss and Fu Manchu legend BRANT BJORK is back with a brand new record! Today, the godfather of Desert Rock unveils the hotly anticipated details about his thirteenth solo album titled “Mankind Woman”, set to be released September 14th on Heavy Psych Sounds Records!

Although this is indeed a BRANT BJORK record, it is the first record Brant so closely collaborates with a producer and co-writer: his Low Desert Punk Band guitarist and friend, Bubba Dupree. Brant and Bubba wrote and performed the music along with guest appearances by bass player Armand Secco Sabal, Nick Oliveri and vocalist Sean Wheeler who has been a touring member of the Low Desert Punk Band. The recording took place in March of 2018 at Zainaland, a creative villa owned by Brant’s wife Zaina Alwan, in the California desert town of 29 Palms. The record was recorded and engineered by Yosef Sanborn who also owns and operates Massive FX pedals in Los Angeles. Multiple pedals designed by Yosef were used by Brant and Bubba for this record. Additional tracks were recorded by Bubba Dupree at Brant Bjork’s home studio in Venice Beach, California.

BRANT BJORK and Bubba describe the sound of “Mankind Woman” as modern classic. It is evidently clear that both Bjork and Dupree specialize in the craft of the sound and feel of the music spawned in the 60’s and 70’s. This record is inspired by this great era, however the intention was not to try to recapture or mimic in retro terms these influences but to strive for a contemporary quality. Brant Bjork might have gone deeper in the lyrics than on any record before.

Focusing on personal sensitivities, elite hypocrisies, racism, sexism and the daily struggle to find peace, love and understanding in today’s American society. Once again, BRANT BJORK created a record that reminds the listener that it is the ingredients of the jazz, blues and funk, that makes rock music taste so good. A must-have for all collectors, genre-fans and beyond!

In support of his new album, BRANT BJORK will be heavily hitting the road again this year, with very special guest Sean Wheeler. The desert rock legend comments: “Looking forward to returning to Europe in November and bringing all the European fans some of our fresh jams along with the classics. Mankind Woman is our new record and we can’t wait to turn Europe on! See you all soon!”